" Mon nom est personne " : la construction de la personnalité morale ou les vertus de la patience

National audienceConsensus has never been reached on the question of legal personality. The legal personality of private commercial companies is a concept which developed as much from legal practice as from legal doctrine. As a concept it was officially recognized only in the nineteenth century, although it had been used by merchants from the Middle Ages onwards. To understand the concept, we examine various elements of company life, the keystone of which could well be the notion of responsibility. Although rendered ambiguous by its early kinship with joint ownership, the commercial firm developed its own rules. Such rules freed it from the shackles of civil law and gave it an autonomous identity. Consequently, the question of business ownership is still a focus of daily debate in proposals concerning company downsizing. This fact reveals its highly political dimension.La question de la personnalité morale n'a jamais abouti à un consensus. Notion à la fois doctrinale et issue de la pratique, la personnalité des sociétés commerciales privées n'est reconnue " officiellement " qu'au XIXe siècle, alors que le concept est utilisé par les marchands dès le Moyen Âge. Son appréhension découle de l'examen des divers aspects de la vie sociétale et sa clef de voûte est peut-être bien la notion de responsabilité. Ambiguë par son cousinage originel avec la copropriété indivisaire, l'entreprise commerciale développe cependant des règles propres l'émancipant du carcan civiliste pour s'identifier de manière autonome. Partant, la question de la propriété de l'entreprise reste quotidiennement débattue lors des plans sociaux, révélant une dimension très politique